Parents Help to Fuel the Science Chasers

11:54 AM MDT | September 12, 2008 | Esther D’Amico

It took about 20 minutes and 18 questions in the final round of this year’s national You Be the Chemist Challenge before Christopher Pillay, an 8th grader from Elk Grove Village, IL, emerged the winner. He says “I really didn’t know; I just guessed,” at the last question: “What happens as subshells move farther from the nucleus?” His guess from the multiple-choice list was correct—the energy level increases—and he surpassed Ethan Li, an 8th grader from Detroit, who took second place. Pillay and Li were up against 10...